Springfield – Attorney General Lisa Madigan today said that the
Cook County Circuit Court has entered an order expanding and strengthening
earlier requirements that the owners of a Hillside landfill bring the
facility into compliance with environmental laws, including preventing
the uncontrolled release of landfill gas and leachate at and from the
site.

Because of continuing odors and problems at the landfill, located at
4100 W. Frontage Road, Madigan’s office has worked to expand the
existing court orders to require additional action by the landfill owners.

The latest agreement with the defendants, Congress Development Company
(CDC), John Sexton Sand & Gravel Corp. and Allied Waste Transportation,
Inc., requires that they pursue work plans specifically designed to evaluate
and control all of the causes of odors, gas migration and leachate releases
at the site. Under the order, the defendants must obtain approval
for the work plans from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(IEPA) and Madigan’s office. The order requires that the
defendants perform work in the following areas:

Landfill Gas Management System – Defendants must evaluate
the effectiveness of the existing gas collection and control system
and propose and implement necessary remedies to effectively manage
the landfill gas.

Site Wide Odor Control Plan–Defendants
must evaluate the full nature and extent of odors across the entire
site and propose and implement remedies to effectively eliminate such
odors.

Pyrolysis/Oxidation – Defendants must evaluate all the causes
and contributing factors of elevated temperatures, pressures and
oxygen levels within all areas below the ground surface of the landfill
where such elevated temperatures, pressures and oxygen levels exist
and propose and implement remedies to eliminate subsurface pyrolysis,
or oxidation.

Retention Pond - Defendants must propose and implement appropriate
remedies to prevent leachate and landfill liquids other than stormwater
from entering the facility’s stormwater collection system and
prevent the quality of water discharged from the retention pond from
violating the facility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (“NPDES”) stormwater discharge limits.

Leachate Management– Defendants must evaluate
the quality and quantity of leachate that the site generates and
propose and implement appropriate remedies to prevent failures of
the leachate management system and leachate releases.

“We are very concerned that neighboring residents and businesses
continue to endure offensive odors and other problems caused by the landfill,” Madigan
said. “My office will continue to scrutinize what the owners do
to bring the Hillside Landfill into compliance with the law.”

The defendants are required to submit weekly reports addressing the
relevant work required under each part of the order. CDC and the
other defendants also must pay for a professional engineer to assist
the State in reviewing the work plans and the progress of the work.

In 2006, Madigan’s office filed an Agreed Preliminary Injunction
and Order to require CDC to install a new gas collection system at the
site to alleviate the release of noxious gas from the landfill. Later,
the court entered a second order to address subsurface gas migration
to surrounding buildings and additional odor control measures. These
orders have resolved the gas migration problem, but the odor problem
at the site has continued.

While today’s order does not resolve the case entirely, it is
designed to address many areas of alleged noncompliance on the site,
to alleviate significant odors emanating from the landfill and to control
leachate at the landfill.